Chapter 111
A long, long time ago, back when I was active as Demon Lord Belphegor.
I had connections with several women.
Of course, I had connections with men too.
The so-called “Macho Party,” as I refer to them, were men who, if they were still alive today, I would want to reveal my identity to and ask for their help because they were true men in every sense. I genuinely cared for them, so I guided them to the Eastern Continent.
And besides that.
There were several women with whom I had connections.
First, the Sorceress of Crimson Lotus, Bel.
The woman I am impersonating now was the one I knew better than anyone else.
Except for the fact that she’s an ancient being, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I knew everything about her inside and out.
And then there was the Water Spirit Celcius.
Unlike other spirits, this Water Goddess actively sought to manifest in human form and engage with the Intermediate Realm. I had many relationships with her as well.
As you can see, that relationship is still evident as she tries to mimic my appearance.
In addition to that, there were many other women.
Among the Order of the Goddess, there was Saintess Tsun Diere.
Among the heroes, there was the hero with the Holy Sword of Light—Leberced Arpe.
Naturally, Saintess Tsun Diere would have descendants, so her human life span would have come to an end.
Leberced Arpe, possessing the Holy Sword of Light, might not have died, but the moment he put down that sword, he would meet his end due to the limits of his spirit.
So, what other women were there?
Well, many.
I hadn’t specifically tried to seduce anyone, but there were several women I could call connections.
And among them, there were a few whom I hoped to spend some years with after conquering the Human Alliance and before moving on to the next stage in the Demon King’s Castle.
Why, you ask?
Humans often say.
“One of the most surprising things about coming to the Intermediate Realm was the polygamy. Men from somewhat powerful families seemed to have multiple wives and mistresses.”
It’s not really an excuse, but if I had the chance to clarify, I would at least share my thoughts.
“I’m also sort of a self-proclaimed male, so as a demon lord, I couldn’t ignore what humans do. Remember that Demon King’s Castle I occupied? The king there had seven wives.”
If humans do it, it wouldn’t give me the dignity to not do the same as a demon lord.
And they said.
-Loving only one woman is beautiful, but if a man has the ability, having multiple women isn’t so bad, right?
-Yeah, right. Just managing one wife is tiring; you think managing more would be any easier? Nonsense. You wouldn’t say that if you were married.
-Hahaha! Old man, that’s just because you lack ability! A man, if he has the power and confidence to manage multiple wives, can do it! If you have the ability to manage a home, it wouldn’t matter how many wives you had! Isn’t that right, Bel?!
-Maybe…?
-Hahaha, this naive fool. Try checking! Among those with noble blood in the Human Alliance, how many have two or more wives? No, if you include concubines and secret lovers, it probably exceeds 30%! Come on, old man, wouldn’t it be great if you had multiple obedient wives?
-Do you really think that’s feasible? That’s why they say ‘wife.’ Tsk, tsk, you’ll only understand when you get married. Nobles…
-It’s a privilege of being a noble! Hahaha!
Should I say it’s typical of a macho party, or should I call it a typical fragment of a class-based, male-centric society?
“When they conducted the statistics, they found that a whopping 74% of men were involved with two or more women.”
“Is that many?”
“That counts the cases of widowers remarrying. In reality, only 26% of nobles maintain a lifelong relationship with just one wife.”
Back 500 years ago, it was quite common for one man to have multiple wives.
“So, you decided to live like that too, Demon Lord?”
“It wasn’t necessarily bad, was it? Even now, the outside world seems to be the same. I don’t know how it is here, but the humans I observe have accepted it as normal for an able man to attract multiple women.”
“So you built a harem party centered around the hero with the Holy Wind Sword?”
“Right. If the number of women living with an able man is evidence of his capability, then that truly is proof of being a hero.”
“Hmmm… That isn’t wrong. Since ancient times, a strong male having several females has been a basic scenario. Like lions, right? The leader of the pride has several females.”
Look.
Even the historic witness Celcius agrees.
I’m not wrong.
What’s wrong is…
“But you got stabbed by the Wind Hero, didn’t you?”
“…….”
“How can you cheat on yourself with another woman?”
“I have a lot to say about that, but there’s a part that’s quite unjust.”
I’m incredibly upset.
Why?
“Because I didn’t even date her. If you had stabbed me, I might understand your reasoning.”
I never expressed any affection for that woman.
“I wasn’t even aware she was the hero with the Holy Wind Sword. I just thought she was a crazy, bizarre woman who was talking about returning to her hometown from this world as if she came from somewhere else.”
She was insane.
She claimed she came from a world where solid metal clumps flew in the sky and where a tiny box could deliver items to someone’s doorstep.
So when I asked her to explain that principle, she said she wasn’t an expert enough for that.
But the more I listened to this woman’s story, the more I thought keeping her around would cause a massive accident if let loose.
I just captured her some moments earlier than the Sorceress of Crimson Lotus Bel.
“Don’t you think it’s your mistake to treat such a crazy woman like a princess from a fairy tale?”
“Is that my mistake?”
“She fell for you. You might not understand, but down here, a romance fantasy is trending right now!”
“Romance… what?”
“Such a thing exists.”
Celcius laughed at me as if to say I didn’t know that.
It’s natural that I don’t know.
I hadn’t known about the Intermediate Realm for 500 years; how would I know of the peculiarities of the underwater world, which is entirely disconnected from the Intermediate Realm?
“That woman thought she was the protagonist of a fantasy where she was transmigrated, and you were her heroic cool dude who saved her!”
“Could you explain it in simpler terms?”
“You don’t need to understand. Anyway, whatever you do, it won’t matter.”
Ah.
Is this how my party feels when they listen to me?
I reflect upon myself.
“If I put it in simpler terms for your understanding, the reason she fell for you was entirely that you treated her well.”
“That’s treating her well?”
“Yeah. I might not have been there when you died, but I think I’d feel the same if I were her, not knowing you were the hero with the Holy Wind Sword.”
Celcius approached and lightly tapped my head.
“I thought I was your girl and had feelings for you, but then suddenly, you had a child with some random girl who fell out of nowhere? And she doesn’t even seem like someone I could see myself as your sixth concubine? I wouldn’t be able to contain my anger and stab you.”
“That’s some delusional thinking, isn’t it?”
I never even considered taking that woman as a concubine.
I merely proposed to keep her safe in this world and to help her find a way back to her original world.
I was currently researching ways to traverse worlds, and besides, she was someone who piqued my interest in many ways.
“She fancied me in her own way, then jumped to conclusions about marrying me with some random girl? Am I mistaken for someone who would marry a being from another world? How absurd!”
“She must have stabbed you because of her delusional one-sided fantasy.”
“Ah! I see.”
Now, it’s starting to make some sense.
The knots that I couldn’t untangle over 500 years of thought and worry seem to loosen a bit.
“That woman was indeed crazy, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Phew. I thought I had done something truly wrong.”
“If you did anything wrong, it was treating a crazy woman too kindly.”
“I get it now.”
That such a woman was a hero with the Holy Wind Sword and that I hadn’t realized it until she brandished it was merely my oversight.
—In this ridiculous world, they all should just disappear—!!
…In the end, I killed her and would die myself.
What was her name again? Sayon? Kotonohana? Something with an unusual name not found in this world.
“Thank you for listening to my story. I didn’t originally come here to tell this, but now I feel like I understand your situation too.”
“What?”
“You are not Asydia. You have no relation with Zephar, the one who summoned me and stole my body.”
“…What?”
Celcius had no clue.
To be precise, she didn’t care about matters of the Intermediate Realm at all.
“You didn’t seem interested in the hero with the Holy Water Sword, so there’s no way you’d know the circumstances of the Intermediate Realm. Even if you did, you would have thought I could handle things on my own on the surface.”
“If I had known you were summoned, I wouldn’t have reacted like this!”
Celcius.
Not quite an enemy, but at times more threatening than an enemy.
If I were to express it in two words, it could be “incompetence,” but for the sake of her honor, I chose to hold my tongue.
She has many abilities, but uses them in strange ways.
And the results of those uses have led to the worst situations.
Yet she genuinely attempted to act out of “good intentions.”
Perhaps quietly staying in the deep sea would be her best option.
“In any case, we’re currently in a situation where we’re fighting against your allies!”
“What?”
What on earth was she talking about?
“There’s fighting on the surface, but there’s also fighting in the depths of the ocean. I truly despise to say this, but at this moment, we have to borrow the power of the holy hero of the Holy Wind Sword.”
“If you mean my allies… Are you talking about Asydia?”
“Asydia? I don’t know if that’s her name, but we are currently fighting the Demon King.”
“The Demon King?”
“Yeah. We’ve been fighting for about… a year now.”
Celcius pointed outside in a voice dripping with frustration.
“The Leviathan the Sea Dragon. The Demon Lord of Jealousy. We’ve been at war with him for the last year.”
